


everything which i used to say could not happen, will happen now

by injeoImis



Series: stillness in woe [9]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Dates, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, bad boy!hyuck kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2019-10-02 04:07:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17257274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/injeoImis/pseuds/injeoImis
Summary: Jeno liked dancing and exercising. Donghyuck liked gaming and music. They existed on two completely different sides of one coin. But then again, maybe that is what made Jeno so attracted to Donghyuck.





	everything which i used to say could not happen, will happen now

**Author's Note:**

> imagine [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joW6j1DgwHY) haechan with [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMGYTHT17DM) jeno
> 
> this [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/ceciliaaxix/playlist/53VJS5Dd7sJHZuu2SoXLLn?si=GaSyeslOQIeZOCwPspgGzg) that i made contains some of the songs i mention in the story

High school was a lonely place, Jeno quickly realised, not only for him but also for the boy who sat behind him in AP Calculus.

 

Jeno supposed he had friends, though he wasn’t sure if they considered him their friend. In his mind, they were more of an acquaintance and to be honest, he was quite fine with that. A little too fine but nonetheless, he didn’t stress over it.

 

There was one kid he hung out with, Na Jaemin, but they only ever talked in school. They’d never went out anywhere together after school, never texted each other too much (only to exchange take home test answers or the causal yet awkward _how r u? / im good, u?_ ). Jeno hadn’t even spared some time in his schedule to attend any of Jaemin’s speed skating meets despite the younger always begging him to go.

 

Jeno wasn’t sure if the boy who sat behind him had friends. He only ever saw him in AP Calc, headphones in and chewing gum obnoxiously. Jeno was sure the teen did it just to annoy him.

 

He knew his name, Lee Donghyuck, only after peeking at his test score when the teacher handed him the wrong test paper by accident. It was a surprising grade, a 93, for someone who never listened to what was being taught every day. Jeno thought that maybe he had been left back and had old tests that the teacher never changed but then he remembered sitting next to the now purple haired teen at freshman orientation three years ago, causing him to throw that thought out the window.

 

Maybe everything was not as it seemed.

 

Jeno was quiet. He liked to mind his own business… except when it came to Lee Donghyuck. Something about him was so intriguing, so mysterious and enigmatic. Jeno wanted to put the pieces to his puzzle together.

 

Jeno ogled not-so-subtly at Donghyuck when the teen entered class.

 

It wasn’t like Donghyuck would say anything to him. He never said anything to anyone.

 

Jeno wondered what his voice sounded like. Was it deep and gravely like the girls gossiped it sounded like? Was it smooth and enticing like student body president Huang Renjun’s? Was it—

 

“Why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer,” An unfamiliar voice whispered into his ear, thirty minutes after class started. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, made his heart race uncomfortably and his hands sweaty.

 

Jeno felt giddy and restless for the rest of class. Of course he had realised that what Donghyuck had said to him was not necessarily the nicest thing but it was something. Jeno would take all that he could get from the only boy who was equally as quiet as himself.

 

When the bell rang to dismiss the entire school for the day, Jeno took his time packing up.

 

From his peripheral, he could tell that Donghyuck was doing the same albeit he still had his headphones in as usual.

 

Jeno finally slung his backpack over his shoulder, turning around to stare at the purple haired boy who sat behind him.

 

Even in his leather jackets, black turtlenecks, ripped jeans, et cetera, Donghyuck still managed to look like the sun in Jeno’s mind. The smirk on his face was more than enough to get Jeno’s heart racing again. The older was sure that Donghyuck was aware of the crush Jeno harboured on him.

 

“You should come over to my house sometime,” was all he said, placing a yellow post-it note into Jeno’s hand. Through the exchange, Jeno felt like he was going to pass out. For some reason, he’d expected Donghyuck’s hands to be calloused and rough but instead they were soft and warm like chocolate chip cookies that had just been taken out the oven.

 

(There were many things Jeno would give up just to hold his hand for a little while longer)

 

Jeno stuttered and stumbled over his words causing Donghyuck to let out a breathy laugh.

 

“Let me know if you’ll come, yeah?”

 

With that, Jeno was left in the solitude of white noise and his own overbearing thoughts, like he usually was. Although after the conversation, he felt a little less lonely.

 

\+ +

 

For once in his high school career, Jeno didn’t feel so lonely anymore.

 

After the day Donghyuck approached him, they’d talked for some time, strictly through iMessage.

 

They never interacted in school, which should have been weird to Jeno but he felt that he understood why they nonverbally decided on this.

 

Lee Jeno was another kid in the sea of high school seniors that people ignored. Sure, he got love letters from all grade levels but he always turned them down with a ‘ _sorry, i'm not interested right now_ ’ and a soft smile. Jeno was smart but he wasn’t Huang Renjun smart.

 

Lee Donghyuck was a ‘not-so- _troubled_ kid’ who seemed like he never did his work due to his attachment to the music that flowed from his phone to earbuds yet still somehow was in the top five in the senior class. Donghyuck was smart but he wasn’t Huang Renjun smart.

 

That seemed to be about the only thing the two of them had in common.

 

Jeno liked dancing and exercising. Donghyuck liked gaming and music. They existed on two completely different sides of one coin. But then again, maybe that is what made Jeno so attracted to Donghyuck.

 

Because of this attraction, Jeno found himself sitting on Lee Donghyuck’s bedroom carpet listening to the purple haired boy gush about the LPs he’d been collecting.

 

Jeno played with the fuzzy yet soft carpet, wondering if this is what Donghyuck’s hair would feel like if he’d run his fingers through it.

 

Donghyuck’s room felt like home. It wasn’t small but it wasn’t big either. There were many posters, mostly Michael Jackson, Prince, Queen, and some other Western artists that Jeno was sure existed way before the two of them were born. Donghyuck was unique like that. He never listened to songs on the radio or songs that their classmates were obsessing about in AP Calc. Instead, he trusted his own tastes and indulged himself in music of the past and of a different culture. Jeno admired him for that.

 

“Jeno-yah… Are you even listening?” Donghyuck commented, placing a vinyl in his LP player.

 

Jeno’s head snapped up, instantly making eye contact with Donghyuck’s intense gaze. He nodded, trying to rid of the blush creeping on his face.

 

The first song began to play in the background, crackling yet exciting and nothing like Jeno had ever heard before, especially because he never really listened to songs in full English.

 

( _when i hug my baby, ohh, what a thrill_ )

 

Donghyuck smiled, “What did I just say then?”

 

Jeno opened his mouth to answer, subsequently closing it when he realised he couldn’t give a correct answer.

 

“It’s okay… I understand, I do the talking and you do the listening. Although, you don’t really listen much do you? What’s on your mind, love?” Jeno’s heart flipped at the term of endearment.

 

“You.” He answered, his mouth running faster than his mind.

 

Donghyuck laughed, though not as airy as Jeno remembered from the first time they talked. This time it was loud and kind of like the canned laughter you’d hear on sitcoms but more… Donghyuck-esque.

 

“You’re cute.” Donghyuck whispered, hands fidgeting with the vinyls in the wooden basket that he was sitting next to.

 

( _well i know that she loves me_ )

 

Jeno hummed contently, moving closer to him. “So are you.” He confessed, placing a hand over Donghyuck’s. His heart was beating so loudly in his ears and in his chest, Jeno was sure the boy sitting next to him could hear it at this proximity.

 

Jeno wanted to kiss him. Really badly. But his nerves got the best of him, making him pull his head back when Donghyuck leaned forward.

 

The silence between them was deafening and seemed to last a lifetime, even as the turntable continued to play the vinyl.

 

“I-I’m sorry. I just—I get—I’m nervous. I’ve never… I’ve never kissed a boy. Or anyone ever.” He blurted, moving away from Donghyuck. “I don’t want to not kiss you. Or, like,” Jeno groaned. “I just mean that… I don’t want you to think I’m not _good_.”

 

Donghyuck just stared at him, quietly like he usually was, though this time it felt uncharacteristic of him.

 

“I don’t want to take your first if you aren’t comfortable—” “I’m more than comfortable with you, Donghyuck. I really _really_ like you,” Jeno confessed, closing his eyes so tightly he was seeing stars behind his eyelids.

 

Their signature silence returned as Donghyuck ignored everything Jeno said, moving closer to sit in front of the raven haired boy. He leaned in a little closer, their foreheads touching, breath so hot Jeno felt like he was standing barefoot on the pavement in the middle of a summer heatwave.

 

Donghyuck waited, seemingly in a teasing way but he was waiting for a confirmation. An _answer_ from Jeno that showed this was okay, that they were okay and that he truly meant what he said just a minute or two before.

 

For the first time in his life, Jeno made the first move, their lips brushing briefly and innocently. “Jeno-yah, kiss me already.” Donghyuck whined, placing his hands on Jeno’s neck to finally connect their lips.

 

Donghyuck kissed him and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, everything Jeno hoped it’d be but hadn’t expected from someone like Donghyuck. Jeno pushed himself on top of Donghyuck until they were on the floor and there was no space between them. Now he was completely sure Donghyuck could feel his erratically beating heart through his chest.

 

( _you make me shake and i like it, baby_ )

 

When they pulled apart, Jeno apologised profusely, standing like he had just ruined all chances of anything he and Donghyuck could have together.

 

Donghyuck grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. “Lee Jeno, what in the world are you apologising for? I kissed you back, didn’t I?”

 

Jeno nodded, blushing again.

 

“I like you too, Jeno.”

 

( _you got me all torn up [...] i love you so_ )

 

\+ +

 

Jeno recalled Donghyuck telling him that he loved taking walks, especially with his headphones in. Jeno expected nothing less from the younger teen, smiling when he planned their first date.

 

“We’re in the park,” Donghyuck stated, “at ten past midnight. I snuck out of my house for this, Lee Jeno.” He complained, but Jeno knew he was doing it just to be annoying.

 

“You said you like going for walks.” Jeno commented, swinging their hands as they continued down the trail.

 

“I said that when we first met.” Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at him, smile as bright as ever even under the moonlight. Jeno hummed, “Still think I don’t listen?”

 

Donghyuck laughed at that. Jeno liked that sound better than any song Donghyuck played for him, although those were quite nice too.

 

As expected, they were more comfortable in silence than talking so they enjoyed each other’s company from the first entrance of the park to the back. They discussed some things as they travelled back home, mundane things like school and their extracurriculars.

 

When they stopped at Donghyuck’s house, neither wanted to walk away.

 

“Thanks a lot… For remembering the little things about me.” Donghyuck confessed, a sheepish smile on his face.

 

During their time together, Jeno also learned that Donghyuck was not as cold on the inside as he seemed on the outside. He was glad that he was the only one who got to see that side of him, besides his family.

 

Donghyuck kissed his cheek, giggling as he walked up the stairs to his front door. “See you tomorrow!”

 

Jeno waited for him to get in safely, watching as the light turned on in Donghyuck’s room.

 

He waved, smiling as Donghyuck’s silhouette waved back.

 

Jeno walked home feeling warm and giddy. It was an utterly calming and lovely feeling to feel someone’s heart, especially someone like Donghyuck. Maybe, he thought, in a few years time, he’d be able to say that he loved him. And maybe Donghyuck would say it back.

**Author's Note:**

> hehe i hope u enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed writing... nohyuck nation sori jilleo !! :-o
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/dunkyushot)   
> 


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